The talent on display in the three French clubs that competed in the weekend’s
Heineken Cup quarter-finals tells you the French national team should not,
under any circumstances save the Black Death, finish bottom of the Six
Nations.

You can talk about too many foreign players in their Top 14 competition, and indeed there was fine displays from overseas players for both Clermont Auvergne and Montpellier in a pulsating game.

Yet while the key contributions of Sitiveni Sivivatu, Jamie Cudmore and Nathan Hines led the way for Clermont, you can also point to the footwork of Wesley Fofana and the impressive performances of Aurélien Rougerie, Morgan Parra and Julien Bonnaire.

The efforts of their opponents’ foreigners were more than augmented by François Trinh-Duc, until his injury and for Toulon, Mathieu Bastareaud was his usual bulldozing self.

Though France’s international fans must be chronically frustrated, they should at least find a little comfort in the fact that of the semi-finalists, Clermont look clear favourites because of their all-round power, pace and tactical flexibility.

They do not rely on defence, though they excel at it, and when it comes to attack they are able to vary the point of attack from out wide, to narrow and most points in between.

Even when Clermont’s set-piece came under pressure, which is usually fatal to a team’s chances of winning, they simply found other ways to compensate and showed that they can win without dominating possession.

With each of their opponents you can look at least one facet of play and say that under pressure they may struggle and that may cause them to fail.

With Saracens the imponderable may not have to be considered because their suffocating defence and precise territorial and possession game has, hitherto, been too good for the teams they have faced. The work of Brad Barritt and Joel Tompkins was, as usual, effective and direct and Owen Farrell accumulated points with all the stultifying effects that has on a team that gets punished for nearly every indiscretion.

It could be that it will be too good for either of the two teams that stand between them and European glory and if they carry that off they will deserve plaudits from even the most begrudging of critics. But if they do get beaten on the gain line and struggle in the set piece, we, and they, do not know whether they can create much from little. They and their supporters may believe they can, whereas Toulon, who were pressured inordinately in the scrum by Leicester in the first half know that they can cope. A loss by fine margins was no disgrace for the Tigers but experience was a key element in the way that Toulon calmly saw out a narrow lead.

Though Toulon’s legion of Englishmen have noisy advocates for their inclusion in this summer’s British and Irish Lions squad there is virtually no chance of this happening if the off-the-record remarks of those who know are to be believed.

Munster’s dispatch of Harlequins was not the miracle win that has been portrayed in some quarters as Quins’ form and that of their key players has dipped markedly at just the wrong point of the season.

Captain Chris Robshaw put every ounce into every step he took and he does not deserve the irrational and gleeful criticism he gets from fans of other nations.

Nevertheless, in retreat he could do nothing to raise his team and Quins limped out of the cup without showing a fraction of their form of the previous 18 months.

That said, it was a consummate forward performance from Munster, led by Paul O’Connell from the front, back and all round the park. For a player of his age and after the length of time he has had out of the game it was a remarkable individual effort.

Warren Gatland must have smiled to know that he can pick a player with invaluable experience and quality without making a concession to the tenet of selecting on merit.

Had Munster’s backs been able to pass in front of each other at crucial times they would have added at least two tries to the six penalties from Ronan O’Gara that beat the four from Quins’ Nick Evans.

Enraptured though Munster fans should be about the win and the tremendous spirit on which it was based, they must, if they are honest, admit that repeated failures of what are the most basic of skills suggests they will not beat Clermont.

What none of the teams, hopefully, will have to face is something similar to the spitting of Stade Français’s scrum-half Jerome Fillol in the face of Peter Stringer.

I should not say this, but he deserved a swift right-hand and to be carried off. Rugby needs a citation and ban to prevent a repeat of the vile and utterly disrespectful act.